At the same time the Army of the Moselle was retiring behind the Blies and Saar. This inaction displeased the National Convention and the two generals were strongly ordered by the Committee of Public Safety to reassume the offensive and march to the aid of the army blockaded in Mainz by all the efforts of the Coalition forces. The surest means of raising the siege was to carry out a two-pronged simultaneous attack on the enemy, with the Army of the Moselle attacking by Pirmasens or Kaiserslautern and the Army of the Rhine by the left bank of the river.

In 1793 the Army of the Moselle counted 27 battalions of line infantry, four battalions of light infantry, 42 battalions of National Guards and 12 mounted regiments. The line infantry included the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 30th, 33rd, 96th, 99th and 103rd Demi Brigades, the 1st Battalions of the 1st, 5th, 27th, 41st and 81st Demi Brigades and the 2nd Battalions of the 2nd, 8th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 40th, 47th, 54th, 55th, 58th, 71st and 100th Demi Brigades. The light infantry consisted of the 6th, 13th, 16th and 17th Battalions. The cavalry regiments were the 4th, 10th, 11th and 14th Cavalry, 1st, 11th and 14th Dragoons, 1st, 9th, 18th and 19th Chasseurs à Cheval and the 2nd Hussars.[1]

The National Guards were made up of the 1st Battalions of the Ardennes, Creuse, Paris Butte de Moulins, Saône-et-Loire and Yonne, the 2nd Battalions of the Lot and Haute-Marne, the 3rd Battalions of the Côte-d'Or, Manche, Paris Sections Armée and Haut-Rhin, the 4th Battalions of the Oise and Var, the 5th Battalion of the Orne, the 6th Battalions of the Basses-Pyrénées and Seine-et-Oise, the 7th Battalion of the Marne, the 9th Battalion of Paris Ste. Margueritte, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Cher, 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Loiret, the 4th, 6th and 7th Battalions of the Meurthe, the 1st, 3rd and 5th Battalions of the Meuse, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Battalions of the Moselle, the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Paris République, the 3rd and 4th Battalions of the Bas-Rhin, the 1st and 7th Battalions of the Rhône-et-Loire, the 1st and 4th Battalions of the Haute-Saône and the 1st and 6th Battalions of the Vosges.[1]

The Austrians at Arlon were under the command of Feldmarschall-Leutnant Gottfried von Schröder.[2] His approximately 6,000 troops were organized into seven battalions and eight squadrons. The Austrian infantry was made up of three battalions of the Infantry Regiment Franz Kinsky Nr. 47, one battalion of the Infantry Regiment Murray Nr. 55, the 1st Battalion of Infantry Regiment Alton Nr. 15 and the 3rd Battalions of Infantry Regiments Devins Nr. 37 and Johann Jellacic Nr. 53. Schroder's mounted contingent consisted of six squadrons of the KinskyChevau-léger Regiment Nr. 7 and two squadrons from an unknown unit. The French forces were led by General of DivisionAmable Henri Delaage and counted 8,500 infantry and 1,000 cavalry from the Army of the Moselle.[3]

Jean Nicolas Houchard, commander of the Army of the Moselle, believed in the same goal, advancing on the left on 9 June to attack Arlon, on the heights, defended by 8,000 men, 30 artillery-pieces and a chain of echelon trenches overlooking all points from which it could be attacked. The Republican columns advanced at the charge in good order, shouting "Vive la République!" and under fire from these batteries, with the French artillery being of too low a calibre to reply with any advantage. The right was more exposed than the rest and was charged by the Austrian cavalry, but the columns in the centre and the artillery came to the right's aid and repulsed the enemy. During the fight near Arlon the future general Claude François Duprès, then only a lieutenant, distinguished himself by capturing a whole Austrian company.

During this time, Pierre Raphaël Paillot de Beauregard was marching on Arlon from the right and took the heights overlooking the town. 400 carabiniers attacked a square of 1,500 Austrians. Several volleys of grapeshot, fired at only 50 footsteps from the front of the square, threw it into disorder and the carabiniers finished routing it. Arlon remained in French hands and the army set up its base there, but its capture was of no use to the besieged troops in Mainz, and Houchard's poor judgement in taking this action was not punished (he was made commander of the Army of the North the following August).

The French suffered 900 killed and wounded. Austrian losses were fewer at 600 killed, wounded and captured. The French also captured five artillery pieces and four ammunition wagons.[3]

During the battle, Captain Jean-Barthélemot Sorbier's horse artillery company carried out an artillery charge: first, Sorbier unlimbered his guns and fired at a range of 800 yards (732 m). The guns were then limbered up and brought closer to the enemy before being unlimbered and fired again. This procedure was repeated at ever-decreasing ranges until the cannons were delivering a very destructive fire at close range.[4]

1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation

2.
First Coalition
–
France declared war on the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792. In July 1792, an army under the Duke of Brunswick and composed mostly of Prussians joined the Austrian side and invaded France, France suffered reverses and internal strife and responded with draconian measures. The Committee of Public Safety formed and the en masse drafted all potential soldiers aged 18 to 25. The new French armies counterattacked, repelled the invaders, and advanced beyond France, the French established the Batavian Republic as a sister republic and gained Prussian recognition of French control of the Left Bank of the Rhine by the first Peace of Basel. With the Treaty of Campo Formio, the Holy Roman Empire ceded the Austrian Netherlands to France, Spain made a separate peace accord with France and the French Directory carried out plans to conquer more of the Holy Roman Empire. The First Coalition collapsed, leaving only Britain in the fighting against France. The key figure, the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, brother to the French Queen Marie Antoinette, had looked on the Revolution calmly. He became more concerned as the Revolution grew further radical, although he hoped to avoid war. Dumouriez prepared an invasion of the Austrian Netherlands, where he expected the population to rise against Austrian rule. However, the revolution had thoroughly disorganized the French army, which had insufficient forces for the invasion and its soldiers fled at the first sign of battle, deserting en masse, in one case murdering General Théobald Dillon. While the revolutionary government frantically raised fresh troops and reorganized its armies, in July 1792 the invasion commenced. Brunswicks army, composed mostly of Prussian veterans, took the fortresses of Longwy, although the battle was a tactical draw, it bought time for the revolutionaries and gave a great boost to French morale. Dumouriez went on the offensive in Belgium once again, winning a victory over the Austrians at Jemappes on 6 November 1792. On 21 January the revolutionary government executed Louis XVI after a trial and this united all European governments, including Spain, Naples, and the Netherlands against the Revolution. France declared war against Britain and the Netherlands on 1 February 1793, in the course of the year 1793 the Holy Roman Empire, the kings of Portugal and Naples, and the Grand-Duke of Tuscany declared war against France. Thus the First Coalition was formed, the French government sent Citizen Genet to the United States to encourage them into entering the war on Frances side. The newly formed nation refused and remained throughout the conflict. After a victory in the Battle of Neerwinden in March, the Austrians suffered twin defeats at the battles of Wattignies, British land forces were defeated at the Battle of Hondschoote in September

3.
Joseph de Ferraris
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Joseph Jean François, count de Ferraris was an Austrian general and cartographer. Between 1771 and 1778, Ferraris was commissioned by the empress Maria Theresa of Austria, the maps were made on a scale 1,11,520, and formed a collection of 275 hand-colored and hand-drawn maps 0,90 ×1,40 m each. These were accompanied by volumes of handwritten commentaries relating to topics of economic. Three originals of the maps remain, one is in the Kriegsarchiv in Vienna, one is in the Rijksarchief in The Hague and the third one remains in the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels. In 1777 and 1778, Ferraris issued a version of the cabinet maps with a scale of 1,86,400 in 25 maps. The Ferraris maps were used to great extent during the operations of the French Revolutionary Wars. When the French invaded in 1792–1793 they took 400 copies of the map from a Brussels printer and seller, in 1794 they took the engraving plates to France so they could produce more maps for their own use and to prevent any enemy from acquiring copies. Louis Capitaine, a French engineer, copied it and produced 2 versions one with 69 sheets and a scale version on six sheets. During the Waterloo Campaign the Duke of Wellington had a copy of the six sheet version as it is probable that Prince Blucher also had a copy of the six sheet version. Napoleon carried a copy of the full scale Capitaine map while Gourgaud, both versions were very similar and about 40 years out of date. De Coene, K. Ongena, T. Stragier, F. Vervust, S. Bracke, W. De Maeyer, P. Ferraris, — The history of the map and a map legend. Clayton, Tim, Waterloo, Four Days that Changed Europe’s Destiny, Little, Brown Book Group, p.58, ISBN 978-0-7481-3412-0 The Austrian Netherlands maps by de Ferraris, Belgian national library

4.
Arlon
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Arlon is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg. With a population of just over 28,000, it is the smallest provincial capital in Belgium, Arlon is also the capital of its cultural region, the Arelerland. The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities, Arlon proper, Autelbas-Barnich, Bonnert, Guirsch, Heinsch, the local population adapted relatively easily to Roman culture. The Germanic invasions of the 3rd century destroyed most of these early advances, during most of the Middle Ages, the population still used the earlier buildings such as the thermae. In 1060, Waleran I of Limburg, Count of Arlon, in the 13th century, the only womens Cistercian abbey known to date was built in Clairefontaine. The Duchy of Luxembourg itself, of which Arlon was dependent, after Charles Vs abdication of his empire to his son Philip II of Spain in 1556, a troubled period started for the whole region as continuous wars opposed France, Spain, and the Southern Netherlands. In 1558, nearly half of the city, including its castle, was destroyed by the French troops of Duke François of Guise. In the 17th century, Capuchin monks built a convent on the ruins of the castle, an accidental fire destroyed a large part of the city again in 1785. On 9 June 1793 the French Revolutionary troops opposed the Austrians just outside Arlon, the French emerged victorious and occupied the city. They expelled the Capuchin monks and used their convent as a hospital, after the Battle of Waterloo, Arlons history is entwined with that of Belgium. Arlon was one of the first victims of the German invasion in 1914 as 121 inhabitants were executed on 26 August and its territory was again among the first to be invaded at the onset of World War II. During the war, the mayor of Arlon, Paul Reuter collaborated with the occupying Germans, one of the largest industrial employers is the Ferrero Rocher chocolate factory. All International express trains make a stop in Arlon, as it is the last station on the main Brussels—Luxembourg City railway line, Arlon is best known for holding one of the richest archeological museums in Belgium. It houses numerous examples of Roman sculpture and Merovingian funerary art, a fragment of the Gallo-Roman defensive wall that was built in the 3rd century still stands in Arlon. The Gaspar Museum is well known for its furniture, paintings, ceramics, saint Donats church now stands on the Knipchen hill, where Waleran I of Limburg once built his castle and the Capuchin monks built their convent. Arlon cemetery has the largest Jewish section of all Walloon cemeteries, the carnival of Arlon takes place at mid-Lent. It includes the traditional handing of the city keys to the carnival prince, the Maitrank is the citys most popular refreshment. It is made of wine in which a local flower

5.
Austrian Netherlands
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The Austrian Netherlands was the Southern Netherlands between 1714 and 1797. Austria, however, did not relinquish its claim over the province until 1797 in the Treaty of Campo Formio, the Austrian Netherlands was a noncontiguous territory that consisted of what is now western Belgium as well as greater Luxembourg, bisected by the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. The dominant languages were German, Dutch, and French, along with Picard, the result of the Barrier Treaty was that the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI did not have a lot to say about his Austrian Netherlands. This caused quite a lot of frustration with the Austrians, especially because the Dutch troops they had to allow were paid with money raised by the Austrian Netherlands themselves and this would last until empress Maria Theresa refused to pay for those troops any longer. The war of 1740-1748 showed that the fortifications manned with Dutch troops were not highly maintained, when Austria and France entered into an alliance in 1756, there was virtually no use for the barrier treaty anymore. In 1781 Emperor Joseph II of Austria unilaterally abolished the treaty, under the Treaty of Rastatt, following the War of the Spanish Succession, the surviving portions of the Spanish Netherlands were ceded to Austria. The Austrians were unconcerned with the upkeep of their province and the fortresses along the border were, by treaty, the area had, in fact, been given to Austria largely at British and Dutch insistence, as these powers feared potential French domination of the region. Charles VI attempted to use the Austrian Netherlands to compete with British, however, the agreement was later revoked by the Treaty of Versailles of 1758 and Austrian rule continued. However, the Emperors stance was far from militant, and he called off hostilities after the so-called Kettle War, known by that name because its only casualty was a kettle. In the 1780s, opposition emerged to the reforms of Emperor Joseph II, which were perceived as an attack on the Catholic Church. Resistance, focused in the autonomous and wealthy Estates of Brabant and Flanders, in the aftermath of rioting and disruption, known as the Small Revolution, in 1787, many of opponents took refuge in the neighboring Dutch Republic where they formed a rebel army. Soon after the outbreak of the French and Liège revolutions, the army crossed into the Austrian Netherlands. The rebels, supported by uprisings across the territory, soon took control over much of the territory, despite the tacit support of Prussia, the independent United Belgian States, established in January 1790, received no foreign recognition and soon became divided along ideological lines. The Vonckists, led by Jan Frans Vonck, advocated progressive and liberal government, whereas the Statists, led by Hendrik Van der Noot, were staunchly conservative, the Statists, who had a wider base of support, soon drove the Vonckists into exile through a terror. By mid-1790, Habsburg Austria ended its war with the Ottoman Empire, the new Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold II, was also a liberal and proposed an amnesty for the rebels. After defeating a Statist army at the Battle of Falmagne, the territory was soon overrun, the Austrian reestablishment was short-lived, however, and the territory was soon overrun by the French during the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1794, the armies of the French Revolution annexed the Austrian Netherlands and integrated them into the French Republic

6.
Belgium
–
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie

7.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks

8.
First French Republic
–
In the history of France, the First Republic, officially the French Republic, was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First Empire in 1804 under Napoleon, under the Legislative Assembly, which was in power before the proclamation of the First Republic, France was engaged in war with Prussia and Austria. The foreign threat exacerbated Frances political turmoil amid the French Revolution and deepened the passion, in the violence of 10 August 1792, citizens stormed the Tuileries Palace, killing six hundred of the Kings Swiss guards and insisting on the removal of the king. A renewed fear of action prompted further violence, and in the first week of September 1792, mobs of Parisians broke into the citys prisons. This included nobles, clergymen, and political prisoners, but also numerous common criminals, such as prostitutes and petty thieves, many murdered in their cells—raped, stabbed and this became known as the September Massacres. The resulting Convention was founded with the purpose of abolishing the monarchy. The Conventions first act, on 10 August 1792, was to establish the French First Republic, the King, by then a private citizen bearing his family name of Capet, was subsequently put on trial for crimes of high treason starting in December 1792. On 16 January 1793 he was convicted, and on 21 January, throughout the winter of 1792 and spring of 1793, Paris was plagued by food riots and mass hunger. The new Convention did little to remedy the problem until late spring of 1793, despite growing discontent with the National Convention as a ruling body, in June the Convention drafted the Constitution of 1793, which was ratified by popular vote in early August. The Committees laws and policies took the revolution to unprecedented heights, after the arrest and execution of Robespierre in July 1794, the Jacobin club was closed, and the surviving Girondins were reinstated. A year later, the National Convention adopted the Constitution of the Year III and they reestablished freedom of worship, began releasing large numbers of prisoners, and most importantly, initiated elections for a new legislative body. On 3 November 1795, the Directory was established, the period known as the French Consulate began with the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799. Members of the Directory itself planned the coup, indicating clearly the failing power of the Directory, Napoleon Bonaparte was a co-conspirator in the coup, and became head of the government as the First Consul. He would later proclaim himself Emperor of the French, ending the First French Republic and ushering in the French First Empire

9.
Habsburg Monarchy
–
The Monarchy was a composite state composed of territories within and outside the Holy Roman Empire, united only in the person of the monarch. The dynastic capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, from 1804 to 1867 the Habsburg Monarchy was formally unified as the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 to 1918 as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The two entities were never coterminous, as the Habsburg Monarchy covered many lands beyond the Holy Roman Empire, the monarchy had no official name. The entity had no official name, Austrian Empire, This was the official name. Note that the German version is Kaisertum Österreich, i. e. the English translation empire refers to a territory ruled by an emperor, Austria-Hungary, This was the official name. An unofficial popular name was the Danubian Monarchy also often used was the term Doppel-Monarchie meaning two states under one crowned ruler, Crownlands or crown lands, This is the name of all the individual parts of the Austrian Empire, and then of Austria-Hungary from 1867 on. The Hungarian parts of the Empire were called Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen or Lands of Holy Stephens Crown, the Bohemian Lands were called Lands of the St. Wenceslaus Crown. Burgenland came to Austria in 1921 from Hungary, Salzburg finally became Austrian in 1816 after the Napoleonic wars. Vienna, Austrias capital became a state January 1,1922, after being residence, Upper and Lower Austria, historically, were split into Austria above the Enns and Austria below the Enns. Upper Austria was enlarged after the Treaty of Teschen following the War of the Bavarian Succession by the so-called Innviertel, formerly part of Bavaria. Hereditary Lands or German Hereditary Lands or Austrian Hereditary Lands, In a narrower sense these were the original Habsburg Austrian territories, i. e. basically the Austrian lands, in a wider sense the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were also included in the Hereditary lands. The term was replaced by the term Crownlands in the 1849 March Constitution, within the Habsburg Monarchy, each province was governed according to its own particular customs. Until the mid 17th century, not all of the provinces were even necessarily ruled by the same members of the family often ruled portions of the Hereditary Lands as private apanages. An even greater attempt at centralization began in 1849 following the suppression of the revolutions of 1848. For the first time, ministers tried to transform the monarchy into a bureaucratic state ruled from Vienna. The Kingdom of Hungary, in particular, ceased to exist as a separate entity, in this system, the Kingdom of Hungary was given sovereignty and a parliament, with only a personal union and a joint foreign and military policy connecting it to the other Habsburg lands. When Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed, it was not incorporated into either half of the monarchy, instead, it was governed by the joint Ministry of Finance. Austria-Hungary collapsed under the weight of the various unsolved ethnic problems that came to a head with its defeat in World War I, to these were added in 1779 the Inn Quarter of Bavaria, and in 1803 the Bishoprics of Trent and Brixen

10.
Habsburg Austria
–
The Monarchy was a composite state composed of territories within and outside the Holy Roman Empire, united only in the person of the monarch. The dynastic capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, from 1804 to 1867 the Habsburg Monarchy was formally unified as the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 to 1918 as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The two entities were never coterminous, as the Habsburg Monarchy covered many lands beyond the Holy Roman Empire, the monarchy had no official name. The entity had no official name, Austrian Empire, This was the official name. Note that the German version is Kaisertum Österreich, i. e. the English translation empire refers to a territory ruled by an emperor, Austria-Hungary, This was the official name. An unofficial popular name was the Danubian Monarchy also often used was the term Doppel-Monarchie meaning two states under one crowned ruler, Crownlands or crown lands, This is the name of all the individual parts of the Austrian Empire, and then of Austria-Hungary from 1867 on. The Hungarian parts of the Empire were called Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen or Lands of Holy Stephens Crown, the Bohemian Lands were called Lands of the St. Wenceslaus Crown. Burgenland came to Austria in 1921 from Hungary, Salzburg finally became Austrian in 1816 after the Napoleonic wars. Vienna, Austrias capital became a state January 1,1922, after being residence, Upper and Lower Austria, historically, were split into Austria above the Enns and Austria below the Enns. Upper Austria was enlarged after the Treaty of Teschen following the War of the Bavarian Succession by the so-called Innviertel, formerly part of Bavaria. Hereditary Lands or German Hereditary Lands or Austrian Hereditary Lands, In a narrower sense these were the original Habsburg Austrian territories, i. e. basically the Austrian lands, in a wider sense the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were also included in the Hereditary lands. The term was replaced by the term Crownlands in the 1849 March Constitution, within the Habsburg Monarchy, each province was governed according to its own particular customs. Until the mid 17th century, not all of the provinces were even necessarily ruled by the same members of the family often ruled portions of the Hereditary Lands as private apanages. An even greater attempt at centralization began in 1849 following the suppression of the revolutions of 1848. For the first time, ministers tried to transform the monarchy into a bureaucratic state ruled from Vienna. The Kingdom of Hungary, in particular, ceased to exist as a separate entity, in this system, the Kingdom of Hungary was given sovereignty and a parliament, with only a personal union and a joint foreign and military policy connecting it to the other Habsburg lands. When Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed, it was not incorporated into either half of the monarchy, instead, it was governed by the joint Ministry of Finance. Austria-Hungary collapsed under the weight of the various unsolved ethnic problems that came to a head with its defeat in World War I, to these were added in 1779 the Inn Quarter of Bavaria, and in 1803 the Bishoprics of Trent and Brixen

11.
Jean Nicolas Houchard
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Jean Nicolas Houchard was a French General of the French Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars. Born at Forbach in Lorraine, Houchard began his career at the age of sixteen in the Régiment de Royal-Allemand cavalerie. Houchard was a fervent patriot (supporter of the French Revolution, phipps describes Houchard as Brave & stupid. In 1792, he was colonel of a regiment of Chasseurs-à-cheval in the army of General Custine, Custine prophesised that the command of an army would be “an evil present” to him. Houchard himself was aware that it could be a fatal command, and his confidence was thus shaken “is there any more cruel position than this. ”He wrote At the head of the army he became dejected. At Hondschoote he failed to control over any except Jourdan’s column. He was “In his element” leading the charge of a cavalry regiment, after Hondschoote he failed to organise an effective pursuit, “cowed” by the minor check at Rexpoede. Then he was denounced as incapable, not without reason, “The army, which knew his faults, knew also his gallantry and his patriotism. ”. In December 1792 Custine “had not enough knowledge of war and he owed much to the advice of his lieutenant, Houchard, who was a bold and capable head of an advanced guard”. His appointment to command the ‘Moselle’ was “probably done to please Custine, he, however, considered it was a present to Houchard. Custine certainly could judge men, and he was right in this case, “There was nothing aristocratic about Houchard. He rose from the ranks as an officer of fortune, reaching the rank of captain in 1779, when war broke out in 1792, Captain Houchard climbed the ladder of promotion rapidly and followed Custine as chief of the Nord on 1 August. Unfortunately, Houchard soon revealed himself to be a man of limited capacity… Houchard paid for failure with his life… he went to the scaffold in November not for treachery but for incompetence. By his arrest and execution the Convention made it clear that it demanded ability as well as loyalty from its officers”, despite the French victories, Houchard was censured for failing to pursue the enemy and he was arrested at Lille on 24 September 1793. When accused of cowardice by the Revolutionary Tribunal, Houchard replied Read my answer, while tearing his shirt off and showing his many battle wounds. Houchard returned to his seat and kept repeating to himself, The bastard, however, the tribunal found him guilty, and Houchard was guillotined in Paris on 17 November 1793. Phipps, Ramsay Weston, The Armies of the First French Republic, lynn, John A, The Bayonets of the Republic. Motivation and Tactics in the Army of Revolutionary France 1791-94, Oxford, Westview Press, ISBN 978-0-8133-2945-1

12.
Siege of Mainz (1793)
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In the Siege of Mainz, from 14 April to 23 July 1793, a coalition of Prussia, Austria, and other German states besieged and captured Mainz from revolutionary French forces. The allies, especially the Prussians, first tried negotiations, but this failed, within the town the siege and bombardment led to stress between citizens, municipality and the French war council, governing since 2 April. The city administration was displaced on 13 July, this increased the stubbornness of the remaining population, since a relief army was missing, the war council was forced to take up negotiations with the allied forces on 17 July, the remaining soldiers capitulated on 23 July. Nearly 19,000 French troops surrendered at the end of the siege, consequently, they were used to fight French royalists in the Vendée region of France. They left the town singing La Marseillaise, the Republic of Mainz, the first democratic state on the later German territory, was subsequently dissolved. Mainz received a Prussian commander to administer the city, crucis, the Benedictine abbey St. Jacob on the citadel and the remains of St. Albans Abbey. The cathedral had been heavily damaged, the biggest impact of the occupation and siege was that the citys part in the old imperial electoral structure finally came to their end. Thus the events of the year 1793 also marked the end of Aurea Moguntia, the city lost its status as the electoral residence. The shelling of Mainz was widely discussed in Europe, many people gathered round the town in order to view the siege. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe assisted Duke Carl August of Saxe-Weimar during the siege, the Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von Die Belagerung von Mainz, schmittlein, Raymond, Un Recit de Guerre de Goethe le Siege de Mayence II. Arthur Chuquet, The Wars of the Revolution, The Siege of Mainz, Die Belagerung von Mainz by Goethe in the Project Gutenberg

13.
First Battle of Wissembourg (1793)
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In the First Battle of Wissembourg an Allied army commanded by Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser attacked the French Army of the Rhine under Jean Pascal Carlenc. After an ineffectual resistance, the French army abandoned its fortified line behind the Lauter River and this engagement of the War of the First Coalition occurred on the eastern border of France about 60 kilometres north of Strasbourg. After the Siege of Mainz in which the Prussian army captured the city, the Army of the Rhine fell back into the Lines of Weissenburg, soon Wurmser with an army composed of troops from Habsburg Austria, French Royalists and allied German states began putting pressure on the Lines. Meanwhile, the French army organization was in disarray after two previous army commanders were arrested and sent to Paris prisons, since no one wanted to lead the army, the representatives on mission appointed Carlenc, recently a lieutenant colonel of cavalry. After a series of skirmishes, Wurmser launched a successful assault, after the French retreat, the inept Carlenc was arrested and replaced in army command by Jean-Charles Pichegru. At the urging of the government, Pichegru began launching a series of attacks designed to recover the lost territory and these resulted in the battles of Froeschwiller and Second Wissembourg. During the War of the First Coalition, General der Kavallerie Wurmsers Austro-Allied army threatened to invade Alsace, accordingly, the French Army of the Rhine manned the Lines of Weissenburg, a line of earthworks dating back to the War of the Spanish Succession. The lines began near Wissembourg and stretched about 20 kilometers in a direction to the Rhine River at Lauterbourg. This traces the modern-day France-Germany border, during this period, the Army of the Rhines command structure remained chaotic. In July 1793, Adam Philippe Custine was replaced in command, General of Division Charles de Landremont became commander on 18 August and served until 29 September when he was arrested for treason. Unlike his predecessor MG Alexandre, vicomte de Beauharnais who was guillotined in July 1794, Landremont survived the experience, MG Meunier took command for two days until his replacement by MG Jean Carlenc on 2 October. MG Charles Pichegru replaced Carlenc on 27 October, at the same time, MG Lazare Hoche assumed overall command of both the Army of the Moselle and Pichegrus Army of the Rhine. On 20 August, a made up of Austrians, Hessians. Feldmarschal-Leutnant Moritz Kavanaughs Allied force included five battalions, six light infantry companies,13 cavalry squadrons. French General of Brigade Louis-Théobald Ilher led three battalions, six squadrons, and 10 guns, the Allies had the better of the encounter, losing 147 casualties. The French lost 103 men and 5 cannons captured, plus a number of killed and wounded. While leading some dragoons, Ilher was killed by a Hessian Jäger, a flurry of actions followed as Wurmser drove in the French outposts and tapped at the main lines. Skirmishes occurred on 21 and 27 August, and on 7,11,12,14,19,20,23, on 12 and 20 September, two battalions of the Kaiser Infantry Regiment led by Oberst Gerhard Rosselmini clashed with the French at Bad Bergzabern and Bienwaldmuhle

14.
Siege of Fort-Louis (1793)
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The French capitulated after a defense lasting exactly one month. The siege occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars, in 1793 the fortress was sited on an island in the Rhine River, but today Fort-Louis is a village in the Bas-Rhin department in France. Dominique-André_de_Chambarlhac supervised the technical elements of the defense, altogether, Fort-Louis mounted 111 artillery pieces. General-major Franz von Lauer commanded the 4, 700-man besieging force which included a train of 55 guns

15.
Battle of Haguenau (1793)
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In late November, Wurmser pulled back from his defenses behind the Zorn River and assumed a new position along the Moder River at Haguenau. After continuous fighting, Wurmser finally withdrew to the Lauter River after his western flank was turned in the Battle of Froeschwiller on 22 December, Haguenau is a city in Bas-Rhin department of France, located 29 kilometres north of Strasbourg. The French government reacted to the emergency by appointing Pichegru to lead the Army of the Rhine, beginning on 18 November, Pichegru ordered continual attacks on the Coalition lines which slowly forced Wurmsers army back. The Battle of Berstheim was an action during the French offensive. Unfortunately for Wurmser, a Prussian army failed to pin down Lazare Hoches Army of the Moselle to the west, when Hoche began to put pressure on the Coalition right wing, Wurmser was unable to spare sufficient troops to resist the new threat because of Pichegrus relentless frontal attacks. The next combat was the Second Battle of Wissembourg on 25–26 December, in the First Battle of Wissembourg on 13 October 1793, the Coalition army under Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser assaulted and defeated the French Army of the Rhine led by Jean Pascal Carlenc. The Coalition mustered 33,599 infantry and 9,635 cavalry while the French counted 45,312 foot soldiers and 6,278 horsemen. The mostly Austrian army with allied Hessians, Swabians and French Émigrés suffered 1,800 casualties while inflicting losses of 2,000 killed and wounded on the French, in addition the Coalition captured 1,000 soldiers,31 guns and 12 colors. Another source gave a total of 43,185 Coalition troops and 34,400 French, a number of French officers behaved poorly. Right Wing commander Paul-Alexis Dubois retreated unnecessarily while Carlenc refused to order a counterattack without authorization from French political officials, the French army fell back south toward Strasbourg. On 23 October 1793, the chilling Louis Antoine de Saint-Just and they immediately sent for Jean-Charles Pichegru, who commanded troops on the upper Rhine River, to lead the army. They stopped the practice of officers and men visiting Strasbourg and insisted on strict discipline and they also purged the army staff of noblemen and instituted a harsh regime of shooting and sacking officers. Meanwhile, a gang of revolutionaries dragged a guillotine from village to village visiting retribution on supposed enemies, the gangs activities became so extreme that even Saint-Just had to call for a stop. On 29 October 1793, Pichegru arrived at Strasbourg to assume command of the Army of the Rhine, Carlenc was dismissed and arrested, though he avoided the guillotine. On 30th the armys organization included the Advanced Guard under Jean Baptiste Meynier, Right Wing under Dubois, Left Wing under Claude Ferey, Jean François Ravel de Puycontal led the artillery and pioneers. In the following order of battle, the regular army infantry units are in demi brigades. The nominal total was 57,369 men while the number of fit for duty was 42,420. Ravels command comprised the 5th Artillery Regiment, the 1st Battalion of the Bas-Rhin, Jean Claude Loubat de Bohan commanded a cavalry brigade that comprised the 8th, 11th and 17th Dragoon, 7th Hussar, and 8th and 10th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiments

16.
Battle of Kaiserslautern
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The Battle of Kaiserslautern saw a Coalition army under Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel oppose a Republican French army led by Lazare Hoche. Three days of conflict resulted in a victory by the Prussians, the War of the First Coalition combat was fought near the city of Kaiserslautern in the modern-day state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, which is located about 60 kilometres west of Mannheim. In the First Battle of Wissembourg, the Coalition army of Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser broke through the frontier defenses, in November, Hoche launched an offensive which pressed back the Duke of Brunswicks army to Kaiserslautern. On 28 November, French troops moved on Brunswicks defenses from the north, northwest and west, Hoche finally got his entire army into action on the 30th, but the professional Prussian soldiers proved more than a match for the enthusiastic but indifferently-trained French. After the setback, Hoche changed his strategy and turned a part of his army against Wurmsers exposed western flank in Alsace. The next engagement was the Battle of Froeschwiller in December, the 36, 850-man Coalition army of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick successfully concluded the Siege of Mainz on 23 July 1793. The French garrison of 18,675 men surrendered and was released on the promise of not fighting the Coalition for one year, the French government immediately sent the released troops to fight in the internal War in the Vendée. During the siege, the French suffered approximately 4,000 casualties while the Coalition lost about 3,000. The 60, 000-strong Army of the Rhine under Alexandre de Beauharnais, however, Beauharnais had not informed the Mainz garrison that help was on the way and then took too long to start his movement. After the fall of Mainz, both French armies retreated, the Army of the Rhine to Wissembourg and the Army of the Moselle to the Saar River. Blamed for the loss of Mainz, Beauharnais fell into a funk, begged to be relieved of command, meanwhile, Houchard had been replaced by Balthazar Alexis Henri Schauenburg on 5 August. Beauharnais was executed by guillotine on 23 July 1794 and his widow Joséphine de Beauharnais later married Napoleon Bonaparte. Landremont was soon ordered to send 12,000 soldiers to the Army of the North and this reduced the strength of his field force to 45,000 with an additional 39,000 in garrisons or in the Upper Rhine Division under Jean-Charles Pichegru. Brunswick pressed forward toward the fortress of Bitche, driving back the Corps of the Vosges, at this moment, the French government dismissed Schauenburg for the crime of being an aristocrat. During his short tenure he had drilled the troops into better shape, the late commander of the Corps of the Vosges Jean René Moreaux was named to succeed him, but declined because an old wound had reopened. A division commander, Jacques Charles René Delauney reluctantly took over the army on 30 September, Landremont was also dismissed and arrested but his intended replacement, Antoine Guillaume Delmas was trapped in the Siege of Landau. Pichegru was offered command of the Army of the Rhine but he refused, since the generals saw that leading the army led to arrest or execution, none wanted to accept the command. Finally on 2 October, Jean Pascal Carlenc took command of the Army of the Rhine and he would quickly prove to be completely unfitted for the job

17.
Battle of Kaiserslautern (1794)
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The Prussians tried to surround their outnumbered adversaries but most of the French evaded capture. Nevertheless, Möllendorfs troops inflicted casualties on the French in the ratio of nine-to-one, while the Prussians won this triumph on an unimportant front, the French armies soon began winning decisive victories in Belgium and the Netherlands. The battle occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars, in 1794 Kaiserslautern was part of the Electoral Palatinate but today the city is located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany about 67 kilometres west of Mannheim. In December 1793, the French drove the soldiers of Habsburg Austria and Prussia from French soil in the Second Battle of Wissembourg and that spring the Army of the Moselle sent heavy reinforcements to northeast France, leaving the Rhine front lightly defended by troops under Jean René Moreaux. Taking advantage of French weakness, the main Prussian assault was aimed at Ambert who could try to save as many of his troops as possible. Also on 23 May an Austro-Prussian army attacked the Army of the Rhine under Claude Ignace François Michaud but was repulsed at the Battle of Schifferstadt, after losing Kaiserslautern, the two French armies withdrew to positions closer to the frontier. Having expended almost the only initiative they displayed in 1794, the Prussians allowed their offensive to sputter to a halt. Though part of the Prussian army of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel intervened late in the day, three days later, Wurmsers army crossed to the east bank of the Rhine River at Philippsburg. The two French armies pressed north along the west bank of the Rhine and relieved the siege of Landau, brunswicks Prussians withdrew all the way to Worms and Oppenheim. While the right wing of the Army of the Moselle advanced to Speyer, the French pursued as far north as Bad Kreuznach before encountering Prussian resistance and falling back to Kaiserslautern. On 18 January the Coalition garrison withdrew from Fort-Louis and blew up the fortifications, on 14 January Pichegru was relieved in command of the Army of the Rhine by Claude Ignace François Michaud. This ended the constant bickering that had sprung up between him and Hoche, the Prussians were not fully committed to the war because their leaders were divided over whether it was more important to crush the French Revolution or participate in the Third Partition of Poland. As it was, Prussia wished to leave the Coalition at the end of 1793, fed up with interference from King Frederick William II, who was more interested in Poland, Brunswick resigned command of the army. The army numbered 76,489 but there were only 47,665 effectives, orders from the government arrived to advance on Trier which Hoche objected to because the army lacked boots and many other supplies. The advance started anyway but it was called off and the army took up winter quarters along the Blies. By this time Committee of Public Safety had come to mistrust Hoche as too successful, Hoche was put under arrest and remained in prison until the Thermidorian Reaction when Maximilien Robespierre and his associates were sent to the guillotine. On 10 March 1794 Jean-Baptiste Jourdan was ordered to command of the Army of the Moselle. On 15 March, Jourdan ordered the left wing to advance to Arlon while giving Moreaux command of the armys right wing

18.
War of the First Coalition
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France declared war on the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792. In July 1792, an army under the Duke of Brunswick and composed mostly of Prussians joined the Austrian side and invaded France, France suffered reverses and internal strife and responded with draconian measures. The Committee of Public Safety formed and the en masse drafted all potential soldiers aged 18 to 25. The new French armies counterattacked, repelled the invaders, and advanced beyond France, the French established the Batavian Republic as a sister republic and gained Prussian recognition of French control of the Left Bank of the Rhine by the first Peace of Basel. With the Treaty of Campo Formio, the Holy Roman Empire ceded the Austrian Netherlands to France, Spain made a separate peace accord with France and the French Directory carried out plans to conquer more of the Holy Roman Empire. The First Coalition collapsed, leaving only Britain in the fighting against France. The key figure, the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, brother to the French Queen Marie Antoinette, had looked on the Revolution calmly. He became more concerned as the Revolution grew further radical, although he hoped to avoid war. Dumouriez prepared an invasion of the Austrian Netherlands, where he expected the population to rise against Austrian rule. However, the revolution had thoroughly disorganized the French army, which had insufficient forces for the invasion and its soldiers fled at the first sign of battle, deserting en masse, in one case murdering General Théobald Dillon. While the revolutionary government frantically raised fresh troops and reorganized its armies, in July 1792 the invasion commenced. Brunswicks army, composed mostly of Prussian veterans, took the fortresses of Longwy, although the battle was a tactical draw, it bought time for the revolutionaries and gave a great boost to French morale. Dumouriez went on the offensive in Belgium once again, winning a victory over the Austrians at Jemappes on 6 November 1792. On 21 January the revolutionary government executed Louis XVI after a trial and this united all European governments, including Spain, Naples, and the Netherlands against the Revolution. France declared war against Britain and the Netherlands on 1 February 1793, in the course of the year 1793 the Holy Roman Empire, the kings of Portugal and Naples, and the Grand-Duke of Tuscany declared war against France. Thus the First Coalition was formed, the French government sent Citizen Genet to the United States to encourage them into entering the war on Frances side. The newly formed nation refused and remained throughout the conflict. After a victory in the Battle of Neerwinden in March, the Austrians suffered twin defeats at the battles of Wattignies, British land forces were defeated at the Battle of Hondschoote in September

19.
Battle of Valmy
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The Battle of Valmy was the first major victory by the army of France during the Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The action took place on 20 September 1792 as Prussian troops commanded by the Duke of Brunswick attempted to march on Paris, generals François Kellermann and Charles Dumouriez stopped the advance near the northern village of Valmy in Champagne-Ardenne. The outcome was unexpected by contemporary observers – a vindication for the French revolutionaries. The victory emboldened the newly assembled National Convention to formally declare the end of monarchy in France, Valmy permitted the development of the Revolution and all its resultant ripple-effects, and for that it is regarded by historians as one of the most significant battles in history. As the French Revolution continued, the monarchies of Europe became concerned that revolutionary fervor would spread to their countries, the War of the First Coalition was an effort to stop the revolution, or at least contain it to France. King Frederick William II of Prussia had the support of Great Britain, the French commander Charles Dumouriez, meanwhile, had been marching his army northeast to attack the Austrian Netherlands, but this plan was abandoned because of the more immediate threat to Paris. A second army under General François Kellermann was ordered to link up with him in a mutual defense and these veterans provided a professional core to steady the enthusiastic volunteer battalions. Combined, Dumouriez Army of the North and Kellermanns Army of the Centre totalled approximately 54,000 troops. Heading towards them was Brunswicks coalition army of about 84,000, all veteran Prussian and Austrian troops augmented by large complements of Hessians and the French royalist Army of Condé. The invading army handily captured Longwy on 23 August and Verdun on 2 September, in response, Dumouriez halted his advance to the Netherlands and reversed course, approaching the enemy army from its rear. From Metz, Kellermann moved to his assistance, joining him at the village of Sainte-Menehould on 19 September, the French forces were now east of the Prussians, behind their lines. The unfavorable situation was compounded by bad weather and an increase in sickness among the troops. With few other options available, Brunswick turned back and prepared to do battle, the troops trudged laboriously through a heavy downpour – rain as of the days of Noah, in the words of Thomas Carlyle. Brunswick headed through the northern woods believing he could cut off Dumouriez, at the moment when the Prussian manœuvre was nearly completed, Kellermann advanced his left wing and took up a position on the slopes between Sainte-Menehould and Valmy. His command centered around an old windmill, and his veteran artillerists were well-placed upon its accommodating rise to begin the so-called Cannonade of Valmy, Brunswick moved toward them with about 34,000 of his troops. As they emerged from the woods, a gunnery duel ensued. The Prussian infantry made a cautious, and fruitless, effort to advance under fire across the open ground, as the Prussians wavered, a pivotal moment was reached when Kellermann raised his hat and made his famous cry of Vive la Nation. The cry was repeated again and again by all the French army, the French troops sang La Marseillaise and Ça Ira, and a cheer went up from the French line

20.
Siege of Lille (1792)
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The Siege of Lille saw a Republican French garrison under Jean-Baptiste André Ruault de La Bonnerie hold Lille against an assault by a Habsburg Austrian army commanded by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen. Though the city was bombarded, the French successfully withstood the Austrian attack in the War of the First Coalition action. Because the Austrians were unable to encircle the city, the French were able to continuously send in reinforcements. After news of the French victory over the Prussians at Valmy, Albert withdrew his troops, the next battle was at Jemappes in November. The Column of the Goddess monument was completed in 1845 to commemorate the siege, after the Kingdom of France captured Lille in 1668, the famous military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban was ordered to improve its defenses. The five-sided citadel was constructed between 1668 and 1672 at a cost of 1,500,000 florins and the result was announced by Vauban to be the Queen of Citadels. The citadel was surrounded by marshes, except where it adjoined the city, in 1670, parts of the old walls were torn down to make room for new fortifications. When the work was done, Lille was protected by 16 bastions, Vauban estimated that 12,000 soldiers were required to defend the huge fortifications, including 1,000 manning the citadel. On 19 August, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette left his command at the Army of the North, on 17 August, the increasingly radicalized French Legislative Assembly had demanded that La Fayette report to Paris for questioning and on the 19th he was charged with treason. Not understanding that his enemies wanted to guillotine him, the Prussians and Austrians imprisoned La Fayette until 1797. His replacement in command was the more astute Charles François Dumouriez. Dumouriez dreamed of an invasion of the Austrian Netherlands. On 24 August, the politically-connected François Joseph Westermann arrived at headquarters with the news that Longwy had fallen to the Coalition the day before after a feeble defense, the Coalition forces bombarded Longwy into submission then gained a quick triumph in the Battle of Verdun on 2 September. At last Dumouriez realized that Brunswick might be headed to Paris and he also ordered Pierre de Ruel, marquis de Beurnonville to join him with 10,000 soldiers from the Army of the North and Blaise Duval to bring 3,050 more. The Battle of Valmy occurred on 20 September, after which Brunswick withdrew from France, with Dumouriez absent, the French only had 6,000 troops under René Joseph Lanoue to defend Maubeuge. There were 4,000 soldiers led by Jacques Henri Moreton Chabrillant spread between Bruille-Saint-Amand, Saint-Amand-les-Eaux and Orchies as well as 4, 000–5,000 men in the Camp of Maulde. Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen decided to divert French strength away from Brunswicks invasion by launching attacks on the enemies before him, Saxe-Teschen counted 51 infantry battalions and 40 cavalry squadrons of which 14 battalions were in garrisons. On 3 September Anton Sztáray threatened Philippeville while Johann Peter Beaulieu menaced Quiévrain, when Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour advanced from Tournai toward Lille on 5 September, Moreton abandoned the Camp of Maulde and fell back behind the Scarpe River

21.
Battle of Jemappes
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The Battle of Jemappes took place near the town of Jemappes in Hainaut, Belgium, near Mons during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The French, who outnumbered their opponents by about three-to-one, launched a series of enthusiastic, at length, the French seized a portion of the ridge and the Austrians were unable to drive them away. Saxe-Teschen conceded defeat by ordering a withdrawal, Dumouriez, intent on invading the Austrian Netherlands, advanced late in the season and attacked the Austrians with greatly superior forces. Jemappes was won by costly but effective charges against the Austrians prepared position, Dumouriez overran the Austrian Netherlands within a month, but lost it at the Battle of Neerwinden in March. The French would not reconquer the Austrian Netherlands until the summer of 1794 and this left Dumouriez free to move north, to first lay siege to Lille in late September and into early October, and then to launch his long-planned invasion of the Austrian Netherlands. The Austrian army was commanded by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, the governor of the Austrian Netherlands. Although he had more than 20,000 troops available, they were scattered in a defensive line. With this power, he tried to defend the 5-mile long Cuesmes ridge which ran from Mons in the Austrian left to Jemappes on the right side. The Austrian right was commanded by Franz Freiherr von Lilien, the center by Franz Sebastian de Croix Count Clerfayt, two other companies were further to the left around Mont Palisel and an infantry battalion was at Mons. The Austrian army positioned themselves on the marshes around the Trouille groves and rivers, the only other way for a retreat was via Mons. Dumouriez had twice as many men as the Austrians and his own Armée du Nord contained 32,000 infantry,3,800 cavalry and 100 guns and was supported in Jemappes by a further 4,000 men and 15 guns under General François Harville. Dumouriezs infantry battalions contained thirteen volunteers from 1792, harvilles men were also volunteers, but most of the older commanders were either experienced soldiers or aristocrats. The most obvious example was the commander of the French center, the Duke of Chartres, who had assumed the name of General Egalite, the right wing was commanded by General Pierre de Riel, Marquis de Beurnonville and left of General Louis Marie de la Caussade Ferrand. Harville was to reinforce the right, Dumouriez planned to use his armys numbers to overtake the Austrian position. The plan was for Harville and Beurnonville to attack first, Ferrand would then capture Quaregnon before Jemappes. Beurnonville would then attack the Austrian center while Harville moved to Mont Palisel to cut off the Austrian retreat, see Jemappes 1792 Order of Battle for details of the Austrian and French organizations. Saxe-Teschen entrenched his 11,628 infantry,2,168 cavalry and 56 guns along the Cuesmes Ridge just a few kilometers west of Mons, the Austrian artillery included fourteen 12-lb cannon, thirty-six 6-lb and 3-lb cannon and six 7-lb howitzers. The north end of the position, defended by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Freiherr von Lilien, was anchored on the village of Jemappes, feldzeugmeister Count Clerfayt commanded the center and Feldmarschall-Leutnant Johann Peter Beaulieu led the left wing

22.
Battle of Neerwinden (1793)
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The Second Battle of Neerwinden saw a Republican French army led by Charles François Dumouriez attack a Coalition army commanded by Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The French position in the Austrian Netherlands swiftly collapsed, ending the threat to the Dutch Republic, the War of the First Coalition engagement was fought at Neerwinden, located 57 kilometres east of Brussels in present-day Belgium. After Dumouriezs victory at Jemappes in November 1792, the French armies rapidly overran most of the Austrian Netherlands, rather than driving the Austrians to the west bank of the Rhine River, Dumouriez and the French government became preoccupied with a war with the Dutch Republic. During the breathing space offered by her enemy, Austria assembled an army under the Prince of Coburg, after a French covering force was routed by Coburg at Aldenhoven, Dumouriez began gathering his army for a counterstroke. Coburg took up a position at Neerwinden and awaited the confident Dumouriezs attack. The Coalition army was outnumbered in infantry but possessed a superiority in cavalry. After intense fighting, Coburgs troops repulsed the attacks of the French center, when Dumouriez found that his left wing was driven off the battlefield, he began retreating. The defeat led to desertions from the discouraged French volunteers. In the face of the collapse, Dumouriez negotiated a free withdrawal of French troops in return for the surrender of Belgium. Soon, Dumouriez was plotting against his own government and when his plans failed, he defected to the Austrians, on 6 November 1792, a French army under Charles François Dumouriez defeated the Austrian army of Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen at the Battle of Jemappes. The French enjoyed a numerical superiority with 40,000 infantry,3,000 cavalry and 100 guns against an Austrian army counting 11,628 foot soldiers,2,168 horsemen and 56 guns. Within one month the French armies overran most of the Austrian Netherlands, on the right flank, the Army of the Ardennes led by Jean-Baptiste Cyrus de Valence advanced down the Meuse River toward Huy. On the way, Valence dropped off a force under Louis-Auguste Juvénal des Ursins dHarville to besiege Namur, Dumouriez himself with the Army of Belgium captured Liège. The Army of the North commanded by Francisco de Miranda laid siege to Antwerp and it was joined by a column under Benôit Guérin de Berneron that marched first from Ath northeast to Leuven. On the 27th Stengel with 8,000 soldiers from the Army of Belgium won an action at Voroux-lez-Liers near Liège over Anton Sztáray. Antwerp fell on 29 November to Mirandas 17,600 infantry and 1,245 cavalry, the Austrian garrison of the 1st Battalion of the Hohenlohe Nr. 17, two companies of the Vierset Nr.59 and four companies of the Würzburg Infantry Regiments, the French captured 57 cannons,50 additional 3-pound regimental cannons,3,150 muskets and 1,523 hundredweight of gunpowder. The 2, 599-man garrison of Namur under Johann Dominik von Moitelle surrendered on 2 December to Valence, the Austrian defenders included two battalions of the Kinsky Infantry Regiment Nr

23.
Battle of Famars
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The Battle of Famars was fought on 23 May 1793 during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. An Allied Austrian, Hanoverian, and British army under Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld defeated the French Army of the North led by François Joseph Drouot de Lamarche, the action occurred near the village of Famars in northern France, five km south of Valenciennes. In May 1793, following a series of reverses the French Republican army in the Low Countries was in a desperate situation, dispirited after the death of its former commander Augustin-Marie Picot de Dampierre, it was tired and disorganised. In addition it was weakened by detachments taken from each battalion to serve in the war in the Vendée. Although new recruits were being allocated from the levy of 300,000, the new temporary commander Lamarche realised that all that could be done for the moment was to draw back to an entrenched camp at Famars and the fortress of Valenciennes. The allies under Coburg moved to besiege Valenciennes, but first they desired to drive Lamarche from Famars to clear the way and prevent any intervention from the French. Coburgs forces had recently been augmented by the newly arrived Anglo-Hanoverian contingent commanded by the 26-year-old Frederick, Duke of York and this is perhaps surprising, as for many of the British troops it would be their first taste of action against Republican France. The camp at Famars lay on a ridge, three south of Valenciennes, and was bordered on the east by the river Rhonelle. On the other side of the Scheldt Clerfayt was to launch an attack against the entrenched camp at Mont Anzin. The 1st Main Column of 16 battalions and 18 squadrons was led by the Duke of York and included the British Guards brigade under Gerard Lake, which had already seen action at Raismes on 8 May. Macks instructions were for York to cross the Rhonelle by trestle bridges in the neighbourhood of Artres, in other words, no resistance was expected until the attack on the French camp. Austrian Feldzeugmeister Joseph de Ferraris commanded the 2nd Main Column, which included Abercrombys Brigade of the British 14th Foot and it was to attack from the village of Saultain against entrenchments on the East bank of the Rhonelle. Soon after 2,00 am Yorks column moved off from its assembly point two miles behind Artres, but thick fog slowed their progress and the Rhonelle was only reached at 7. 00am. York was accompanied by both Mack and Coburgs Chief-of-Staff Hohenlohe, the appointed by Coburg to ensure the untested York didnt do anything too rash. As the fog lifted a beautiful dawn revealed their intended crossing point bristling with enemy infantry and artillery, Mack was wounded right at the beginning of the action, so the untried Duke of York was left to make up his own mind as to his next course of action. Fording the stream there unopposed, Yorks light cavalry ascended the low ridge to the south of the village to probe the French flank towards Querenaing, the Allied cavalry had some success when they entered the open redoubts via gorges and cut down the defenders. The French cavalry attempted to retake the redoubts but were beaten off, meanwhile, further north Ferrariss column had stormed the long entrenchment on the east bank ridge of the Famars position and driven the French back to the west of the Rhonelle. Earlier in the day several squadrons of French cavalry had been threatening his flank, whereby they were charged by the Hanoverian Life Guards

24.
Siege of Bellegarde (1793)
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The capture of the fort gave Spain control of an important road through the Pyrenees. The siege took place during the War of the Pyrenees, part of the French Revolutionary Wars, Fort de Bellegarde is on a height overlooking the border town of Le Perthus, which lies on the modern A9 autoroute and Autovía A-7. King Louis XIV of France built Fort de Bellegarde after 1678 according to a plan drawn up by Sébastien de Vauban and this strong masonry fortress defended the Col de Le Perthus which crosses the Pyrenees at an altitude of 305 metres. The pass is the most important route from Spain into France in the eastern Pyrenees, as Vauban noted, Nothing overlooks this place, and the fortress is situated on the highest ground in the area. When Spain went to war with revolutionary France in mid-April 1793, with Bellegarde dominating the main road into France, the Spanish commander had to surround, besiege, and capture the place before he could use the main road as a supply route for his invading army. Accordingly, Ricardos crossed the Pyrenees 20 km to the southwest with 4,500 soldiers, in the first skirmish of the War of the Pyrenees, the Spanish evicted the 400 French defenders. Continuing his left hook, Ricardos 4,400 troops fell upon a French force at the town of Céret on the Tech River, the French,800 regulars and 1,000 National Guards with 4 cannon, panicked and fled. Between 100 and 200 Frenchmen became victims of Spanish musketry and steel, Ricardos reported only 17 men wounded. During the initial operations, the Spanish commander placed a detachment near Bellegarde to keep Boisbrulé, with the seizure of Céret, Ricardos placed his army nearly in the rear of Bellegarde. After receiving some reinforcements, he advanced farther to the northeast to the vicinity of Trouillas, at this location, the 7,000 Spanish troops were confronted by the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees led by General of Division Louis-Charles de Flers. At the Battle of Mas Deu on 19 May, Ricardos defeated de Flers with the loss of 150 killed,280 wounded, the Spanish lost 34 killed and an unknown number of wounded. The demoralized French soldiers retreated north to the department capital of Perpignan, rather than press on, Ricardos turned back to besiege Bellegarde, which overlooked his main supply route back to Barcelona. The siege of Bellegarde and its garrison of 1,536 French soldiers began on 23 May, the garrisons firepower included at least 41 cannon and seven mortars. The 6,000 Spanish besiegers and 34 cannon first concentrated their efforts on reducing two outworks on the side of the main fort. The French Émigré Vallespir battalion fought alongside the Spanish, by 30 May, Ricardos had sited 16 guns in batteries at a distance of 1,200 paces from Fort les Bains. On 3 June,350 Frenchmen surrendered the outwork after a bombardment, two days later, the Fort de la Garde fell after its water supply was cut off, and 200 more French soldiers became prisoners of war. While siege operations proceeded,3,350 Frenchmen tried to escort a convoy to the fortress but were driven off on 29 May. For several weeks the Spanish siege guns pounded the fortress until a breach was made in the main wall, by this time,42 of the 50 French artillery pieces were dismounted

25.
Battle of Saorgio (1793)
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The local Sardinian commander in the Maritime Alps was Charles-François Thaon, Count of Saint-André. Saorge is now located in France about 70 kilometres northeast of Nice, in April 1794 the French seized the positions from the Austro-Sardinians in the Second Battle of Saorgio. The winter of 1792 found two French armies facing the Kingdom of Sardinia, on the north was the Army of the Alps under François Christophe Kellermann occupying Savoy. On the south lay the Army of Italy under Jacques Bernard dAnselme at Nice with a strength of 26,806 men. Anselme wanted to mount an expedition to Rome but the French government desired to attack the island of Sardinia instead. The government ordered Anselme suspended on 16 December 1792 and his replacement was Gaspard Jean-Baptiste Brunet. Anselme was arrested on 12 April 1793 but managed to survive the Reign of Terror, meanwhile, Brunet led the expedition to Sardinia which began on 8 January and ended in complete failure within two months. Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duke of Biron assumed command of the Army of Italy on 10 February, despite this, the Austrian government suspected Victor Amadeus of desiring a separate peace with France. In fact, the French tried to drive a wedge between Sardinia and Austria, but the execution of King Louis XVI by guillotine on 21 January 1793 caused Victor Amadeus to rebuff France. In the spring, the defenses of Sardinia were organized from north to south as follows, the Duke of Montferrat held the Little St Bernard Pass which protected the Aosta Valley. The Marquis of Cordon covered the Susa Valley with 14 battalions and his headquarters were at Susa and a 16-gun fort overlooked the Mont Cenis Pass. Giovanni Marchese di Provera guarded the Agnel Pass near Monte Viso, leopold Lorenz Bartholomaus von Strassoldo shielded the Stura di Demonte Valley with 12 battalions posted near Demonte. Farthest south, Charles-François Thaon, Count of Saint-André employed 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers to defend Saorgio, on 28 February 1793 there was a clash at Levens in which Birons 12,000 Frenchmen defeated 7,000 Sardinians under the Count of Saint-André. Both sides suffered 800 casualties while the Sardinians also lost two of their six artillery pieces, at this period, the Sardinians were more familiar with mountain warfare while the French columns, moving separately, often lost themselves in the forests, rough terrain and foggy valleys. Birons offensive was helped when the Army of the Alps took responsibility over the Barcelonette valley, moving east, the French overran the lower Var and Vésubie valleys and occupied Sospel. In March the Army of Italy counted 17,000 troops present for duty in 25 infantry battalions, already a rising star, André Masséna had charge of five battalions. In its strange policy of moving commanders around before they could master their armies, though the duke was loyal to the French Revolution, the Jacobins planned to bring him down because he was a prominent aristocrat. They finally succeeded and Biron went to the guillotine on 31 December 1793, the Sardinian infantry regiments normally had two battalions, numbering about 500 men each

26.
Siege of Valenciennes (1793)
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The Siege of Valenciennes took place between 13 June and 28 July 1793, during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. The French garrison under Jean Henri Becays Ferrand was blockaded by part of the army of Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, commanded by the Prince Frederick, Duke of York, Valenciennes fell on 28 July, resulting in an Allied victory. Many of the French who had driven from Famars took refuge in the fortified town of Valenciennes. It took a fortnight before heavy guns could be forward, but on 13 June trenches were finally dug. 25,000 men undertook the siege, protected by an army of 30,000. The siege operations of the Austrians proceeded at a slow pace, fitzgerald wrote He sharply remonstrated with them, and in return was reproved for his excessive zeal. On 26 July, the main hornworks on the Eastern side were stormed by three columns, one of them of British troops, yorks chief of staff Murray wrote, The keeping of the hornwork was entirely owing to us putting the Duke of York at the head. Repeated orders were sent by General Ferraris to evacuate it, following the fall of the hornwork Valenciennes surrendered on 28 July, the garrison being allowed to leave with the honours of war minus their weapons and munitions. The French regulars consisted of two battalions of the 29th Line Infantry Regiment and one each of the 75th and 87th Regiments. The infantry battalions counted between 400 and 600 soldiers each, York was proclaimed as a saviour by the population of the town, which trampled the tricolour underfoot and declared him King of France. Brown, Robert, An impartial Journal of a Detachment from the Brigade of Foot Guards, commencing 25 February,1793, burne, Alfred, The Noble Duke of York, The Military Life of Frederick Duke of York and Albany, London, Staples Press. Fortescue, Sir John, British Campaigns in Flanders 1690-1794, London, French Forces, Siege of Valenciennes, March 1793. United States Army Combined Arms Center, Officer of the Guards, An, An Accurate and Impartial Narrative of the War, by an Officer of the Guards, London. Thiers, M, A History of the French Revolution, London

27.
Siege of Dunkirk (1793)
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Following a Coalition defeat at the Battle of Hondshoote they were forced to raise the siege and withdraw northeast. The plan to besiege Dunkirk was taken not by military commanders, right from the beginning of the campaign Dundas had considered the possession of Dunkirk as desirable, both as a bargaining counter in peace negotiations and as a potential British base in Europe. Nevertheless, York obediently followed instructions and through the days of August 1793 moved rapidly north-west. The Advance Guard consisting of the Austrian Sztáray Infantry Regiment Nr.33, not only were the French surprised by Yorks advance, Dunkirks defences were in a dilapidated condition. The town would most likely have fallen quickly had the promised Royal Navy fleet arrived on time, an English civilian witness wrote to the Public Advertiser that the town would have surrendered outright had it not been for Commissioners arriving from Paris to prevent it. Meanwhile, in Paris the election of Lazare Carnot and Pierre Louis Prieur to the Committee of Public Safety was to have beneficial consequences for the Republican field armies. Historian Burne indicates these reinforcements were the former garrison of Valenciennes. Jourdan was then transferred to command troops at the Cassel entrenched camp, with the able assistance of his chief of staff, the young Lazare Hoche, Souham, and later Jacques Ferrand were able to act vigorously to bolster the demoralised defenders. On the 24th Yorks reserve column under the Austrian Feldmarschall-Leutnant Graf Eduard dAlton took the suburb of Rosenthal, fortescue says York lost almost 400 casualties, though the Officer of the Guards gives returns as Austrians 170, British 74 and Hessians 55 killed and wounded. The casualties included dAlton, who was shot and killed towards the end of the day, thereafter Yorks command began entrenching in a line from Tetteghem to the sea. Confidence was high, however York was about to face a number of disappointments, Dundas had omitted to provide York with adequate equipment for a siege, and most importantly no heavy siege artillery. Siege guns had been due to arrive at Nieuport on the 26th, on 27 August, transports arrived to disembark the gun crews but no guns. On 30 August Admiral John MacBride arrived to coordinate naval operations, though he could ill afford it, York dispatched six squadrons of Hessian cavalry to bolster the Dutch line. York was in a difficult position, Souham had opened the town sluices, which slowly inundated the fields connecting York to Freytag and filled British trenches on the dunes with two feet of water. In the end the British were only able to find ordnance by disarming a frigate at Furnes, on 6 September Houchard led the French forces at the Cassel entrenched camp against Freytags covering Hanoverian corps at the Battle of Hondshoote. On the same day the defenders of Dunkirk made a sally in order to pin down Yorks command. One of the killed this day was Yorks chief of Engineers Colonel James Moncrief, on Yorks left flank Freytags Hanoverians were eventually driven back to the town of Hondschoote. Since Freytag was wounded and briefly captured by the French before being rescued, Johann Ludwig, on the 8th Houchard attacked and forced Wallmoden to withdraw in the Battle of Hondschoote after a very hard defence

28.
Siege of Le Quesnoy (1793)
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After two and a half week siege, the French capitulated after suffering heavy losses. The War of the First Coalition operation was fought at Le Quesnoy, after the successful Sieges of Condé and Valenciennes, the Coalition divided their forces. While an Austrian army laid siege to Le Quesnoy, a British-led army marched west to the coast to operate against Dunkirk, on 11 September, two French columns marched to the relief of Le Quesnoy. The force from Cambrai on the west came to grief in the Battle of Avesnes-le-Sec while the force from Maubeuge was also repelled, the Le Quesnoy garrison laid down their arms on 13 September, but the Siege of Dunkirk was a total failure. Undeterred, the Austrian host next laid siege to Maubeuge, leading to the Battle of Wattignies in mid-October, the Coalition besieging force under the Count of Clerfayt numbered about 18,000 troops in 24 battalions and 10 squadrons. There were five Austrian grenadier battalions, those of Attems, Sinoth, Ulm, the Austrian line infantry included two battalions each of Infantry Regiments Archduke Charles Nr. 17, Grand Duke of Tuscany Nr,29, Erbach Nr.42 and Stain Nr. 50, and one battalion of Infantry Regiment Beaulieu Nr.59, the Austrian cavalry comprised four squadrons of the Latour Chevau-léger Regiment Nr.31 and two squadrons of the Barco Hussar Regiment Nr.35. The French Royalist cavalry included two squadrons each of the Bérchény and Saxe Hussars, the Coalition admitted losses of 208 killed and wounded during the siege. The French lost about 1,000 killed out of a garrison of 5,000 troops, the 4,000 survivors became prisoners of war. The Armies of the First French Republic, Volume I The Armée du Nord

29.
Battle of Hondschoote (1793)
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The Battle of Hondschoote took place during the Flanders Campaign of the Campaign of 1793 in the French Revolutionary Wars. By August 1793, the Coalition Army under command of the Austrian Prince of Coburg had taken Condé, Valenciennes and its defences, manned by 8,000 men under the command of Joseph Souham, were thought to be in a poor state of repair and vulnerable to capture. The Duke of York drove Souhams men back into Dunkirk, taking the Rosendaël suburb on 24 August then digging in to besiege Dunkirk from the east side. The siege looked as though it might be a protracted affair, arriving at Poperinge on 20 August, Hessian troops under Freytags command drove the French from Oost-Cappel and Rexpoëde back to Bergues. This fortified town was, two later, surrounded by a corps moving south of Bergues and taking Wormhout and Esquelbecq. The corps was then spread in a military cordon. Its left lay at Poperinge, its right at Houtkerque, freytas command was split into a number of small outposts in the occupied villages. The new French commander of the Armée du Nord was Jean Nicolas Houchard, a brave and experienced subordinate general but patently out of his depth as Commander-in-Chief. Formerly one of Custines closest deputies, he was in his element leading the charge of a cavalry regiment, but had neither the acumen or confidence to head an army the size of the Armée du Nord. Paris was in the grip of the Reign of Terror, hanging over him was the spectre of suspicion, Houchard wrote on taking command “My life is poisoned. Lazare Carnot, newly elected to the Committee of Public Safety, had galvanised the command structure and had ordered a concentration of forces south of Freytags position. By 24 August,20,000 men were in Cassel entrenched camp,4,000 at Lille, the Anglo-Hanoverians were aware that the French were strengthening their front and asked for reinforcements from Coburg, but the Austrians were tied down with the siege of Le Quesnoy. The only concessions made were for a corps under Beaulieu to be moved up to Bouvines and Orchies, on 27 August Houchard launched 15,000 men in three columns against Orange and Beaulieus forces towards Tourcoing and Menin. Macdonalds column was beaten back from Lannoy, and the same fate befell the command of Dumas at Lincelles, having realised that Yorks objective was to besiege Dunkirk, Houchard saw his opportunity to drive a wedge between the Anglo-Hanoverians and the Austrians. However he had no intention of massing troops to strike a blow, Houchard merely planned to use the concentrated forces at Cassel to demonstrate against York. At the beginning of September Houchard learned of the execution of Custine in Paris, on the 5th reinforcements from the Rhine raised his forces at Cassel to 45,800 men. On the same day Freytag, fearful of the French build-up to his front, sent two detachments to seize Arneke, which was stormed, though a British colonel was taken prisoner. On 6 September Houchards forces were poised in eight commands, on the right Dumesny was at Bailleul

30.
Battle of Avesnes-le-Sec
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The Austrian cavalrymen made an overwhelming charge against the French and severely defeated them. In August 1793 the French Army of the North under Jean Nicolas Houchard faced the Imperial army of The Prince of Coburg, Houchards attention was focused on drawing his forces to his left flank to relieve Dunkirk resulting in the Battle of Hondschoote. Activities on the theatre of the war in Flanders centred on the Siege of Le Quesnoy. Coburg had cleared the forest of Mormal in August, forcing the French defenders back to Landrecies and Bouchain, Houchard gave orders for a relief attempt from two columns. On the evening of 11 September two columns prepared to march against the besieging forces, Jean Alexander Ihler left Maubeuge with 14,000 men, marching through Landrecies and Avesnes where he collected more men, and attacked the covering forces. He was beaten back, his command retreating in the greatest disorder, the second column under General Nicolas Declaye initially consisted of the garrison of Cambrai, largely untested raw recruits. These left the town at 1. 00am on 12 September to the sound of the bells celebrating news of Houchards victories and they were joined at Bouchain by some 1,300 men from the garrison, giving Declaye 4,663 men and leaving both towns now largely undefended. Hohenlohe commanded 2,000 cavalrymen, which appeared to the left of Villers, in addition,2,000 soldiers and 18 artillery pieces were captured. Declaye was arrested for his conduct, however managed to avoid punishment due to his strong republicanism, phipps, Ramsey Weston, The Armies of the First French Republic and the Rise of the Marshals of Napoleon I, London, Oxford University Press

31.
Battle of Menin (1793)
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The great superiority in numbers being on the French side the battle ended in a victory for France, with the Dutch army suffering heavy losses. Among the casualties was Prince Frederick, who was wounded in the shoulder at Wervik, the combat occurred during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. Menen is a city in Belgium located on the French border about 100 kilometres west of Brussels, after his victory in the Battle of Hondschoote, the French commander Jean Nicolas Houchard decided to fall on the Dutch forces defending Menen. About 27,000 French troops advanced on Menen from two directions - northward from Lille toward Menen and eastward along the bank of the Leie River toward Wervik. The Dutch defenders held their own on the 12th, however, on the 13th the French won a significant victory, forcing the Dutch to withdraw to Deinze. Two days later, the French were beaten by Beaulieu in the Battle of Courtrai, despite his recent successes, Houchard was charged with treason and executed. In the Summer of 1793 the Coalition forces had split, with the British army besieging Dunkirk under the Duke of York, the Dutch commander therefore repeatedly asked for reinforcements from his Allies, but these requests were denied. The British retreat did not turn into a rout, because Houchard did not pursue them energetically enough, the plan had as objective the relief of Le Quesnoy which was still holding out at this time. Houchard was therefore to march on Tournai and take that fortress, but to that end he had to take care of the Dutch troops around Menen. The Dutch troops had retreated from Ypres, as this was considered indefensible for lack of provisions, and toward Menen and Halluin and this convinced the Dutch commander to remain in position. Houchard knew the Dutch dispositions, which were as follows, on the right flank, the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt occupied Wervik and Comines. In the center the Hereditary Prince held Menen itself with 6,000 men with 4 battalions under Wartensleben pushed forward into Roncq, on the left flank the Prussians of Von Geusau and Reitzenstein occupied Tourcoing and Lannoy. Houchard ordered Antoine Anne Lecourt de Béru to Bailleul to meet up with Joseph de Hédouville who marched there with his troops from Houthem by way of Poperinge, Pierre Marie Joseph Salomon Dumesny was already there on 11 September. The three French generals lost valuable time at Bailleul in preparation, but their presence remained hidden from the Dutch and this was also evidenced by the narrative of De Bas, representing the Dutch perspective, who reported the French attack as a complete surprise. In the morning of 12 September, two columns of French troops under Dumesny and Hédouville finally left Bailleul for Menen, marching along the bank of the Leie. At Bailleul, Dumesnys division counted 10,000 troops and Hédouvilles division numbered 6,500 men and these troops advanced east along the north bank of the Leie toward Wervik, forming the left prong of the French attack. Meanwhile, Bérus division with 10,000 to 11,000 soldiers moved north from the camps near Lille, the Lille division was split into a left column under Jacques MacDonald, a center column led by Béru and a right column under Pierre Dupont. Here the Hereditary Prince personally welcomed him and led him across the Leie to a camp near Wevelgem, meanwhile, Dutch troops forced the French vanguard, advancing in two columns toward Menen and Halluin, back near Halluin

Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a

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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.

First Coalition
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France declared war on the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792. In July 1792, an army under the Duke of Brunswick and composed mostly of Prussians joined the Austrian side and invaded France, France suffered reverses and internal strife and responded with draconian measures. The Committee of Public Safety formed and the en masse drafted a

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The Battle of Valmy was a decisive victory for the French revolutionary army.

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The British evacuation of Toulon in December 1793

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The Glorious First of June, 1 June 1794

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Strategic situation in Europe in 1796

Joseph de Ferraris
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Joseph Jean François, count de Ferraris was an Austrian general and cartographer. Between 1771 and 1778, Ferraris was commissioned by the empress Maria Theresa of Austria, the maps were made on a scale 1,11,520, and formed a collection of 275 hand-colored and hand-drawn maps 0,90 ×1,40 m each. These were accompanied by volumes of handwritten commen

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Count Joseph de Ferraris.

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Bruges on the Ferraris map

Arlon
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Arlon is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg. With a population of just over 28,000, it is the smallest provincial capital in Belgium, Arlon is also the capital of its cultural region, the Arelerland. The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities, Arlon proper, Autelbas-Barnich, Bon

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Arlon centre with bell tower of St. Martin's Church

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The Jewish cemetery

Austrian Netherlands
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The Austrian Netherlands was the Southern Netherlands between 1714 and 1797. Austria, however, did not relinquish its claim over the province until 1797 in the Treaty of Campo Formio, the Austrian Netherlands was a noncontiguous territory that consisted of what is now western Belgium as well as greater Luxembourg, bisected by the Prince-Bishopric o

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Flag

Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers w

France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territ

1.
One of the Lascaux paintings: a horse – Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC

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Flag

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The Maison Carrée was a temple of the Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the Roman Empire.

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With Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the Frankish monarchy, elective and secular until then, became hereditary and of divine right.

First French Republic
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In the history of France, the First Republic, officially the French Republic, was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First Empire in 1804 under Napoleon, under the Legislative Assembly, which was in power before the proclamation of the First Republic, France was engaged

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Napoleon Bonaparte seizes power during the Coup of 18 Brumaire

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Flag

Habsburg Monarchy
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The Monarchy was a composite state composed of territories within and outside the Holy Roman Empire, united only in the person of the monarch. The dynastic capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, from 1804 to 1867 the Habsburg Monarchy was formally unified as the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 to 1918 as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The two e

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Growth of the Habsburg Monarchy

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Flag

3.
Europa regina, symbolizing a Habsburg-dominated Europe.

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Soldiers of the Military Frontier against the incursions of the Ottoman Turks, 1756

Habsburg Austria
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The Monarchy was a composite state composed of territories within and outside the Holy Roman Empire, united only in the person of the monarch. The dynastic capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, from 1804 to 1867 the Habsburg Monarchy was formally unified as the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 to 1918 as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The two e

1.
Growth of the Habsburg Monarchy

2.
Flag

3.
Europa regina, symbolizing a Habsburg-dominated Europe.

4.
Soldiers of the Military Frontier against the incursions of the Ottoman Turks, 1756

Jean Nicolas Houchard
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Jean Nicolas Houchard was a French General of the French Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars. Born at Forbach in Lorraine, Houchard began his career at the age of sixteen in the Régiment de Royal-Allemand cavalerie. Houchard was a fervent patriot (supporter of the French Revolution, phipps describes Houchard as Brave & stupid. In 1792, he

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General Houchard

Siege of Mainz (1793)
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In the Siege of Mainz, from 14 April to 23 July 1793, a coalition of Prussia, Austria, and other German states besieged and captured Mainz from revolutionary French forces. The allies, especially the Prussians, first tried negotiations, but this failed, within the town the siege and bombardment led to stress between citizens, municipality and the F

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Siege of Mainz

First Battle of Wissembourg (1793)
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In the First Battle of Wissembourg an Allied army commanded by Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser attacked the French Army of the Rhine under Jean Pascal Carlenc. After an ineffectual resistance, the French army abandoned its fortified line behind the Lauter River and this engagement of the War of the First Coalition occurred on the eastern border of Fra

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Dagobert von Wurmser

Siege of Fort-Louis (1793)
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The French capitulated after a defense lasting exactly one month. The siege occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars, in 1793 the fortress was sited on an island in the Rhine River, but today Fort-Louis is a village in the Bas-Rhin department in France. Dominique-André_de_Chambarlhac supervised the techn

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Map of Fort-Louis by Cassini (1756–1815)

Battle of Haguenau (1793)
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In late November, Wurmser pulled back from his defenses behind the Zorn River and assumed a new position along the Moder River at Haguenau. After continuous fighting, Wurmser finally withdrew to the Lauter River after his western flank was turned in the Battle of Froeschwiller on 22 December, Haguenau is a city in Bas-Rhin department of France, loc

1.
Jean-Charles Pichegru

2.
Louis Saint-Just

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Dagobert von Wurmser

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Pierre Ferino

Battle of Kaiserslautern
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The Battle of Kaiserslautern saw a Coalition army under Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel oppose a Republican French army led by Lazare Hoche. Three days of conflict resulted in a victory by the Prussians, the War of the First Coalition combat was fought near the city of Kaiserslautern in the modern-day state of Rhineland-Pa

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Duke of Brunswick

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Lazare Hoche

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Alexis de Schauenburg

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Friedrich Kalckreuth

Battle of Kaiserslautern (1794)
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The Prussians tried to surround their outnumbered adversaries but most of the French evaded capture. Nevertheless, Möllendorfs troops inflicted casualties on the French in the ratio of nine-to-one, while the Prussians won this triumph on an unimportant front, the French armies soon began winning decisive victories in Belgium and the Netherlands. Th

1.
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan

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Lazare Hoche

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Wichard von Möllendorf.

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Jean-Jacques Ambert

War of the First Coalition
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France declared war on the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792. In July 1792, an army under the Duke of Brunswick and composed mostly of Prussians joined the Austrian side and invaded France, France suffered reverses and internal strife and responded with draconian measures. The Committee of Public Safety formed and the en masse drafted a

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The Battle of Valmy was a decisive victory for the French revolutionary army.

Battle of Valmy
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The Battle of Valmy was the first major victory by the army of France during the Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The action took place on 20 September 1792 as Prussian troops commanded by the Duke of Brunswick attempted to march on Paris, generals François Kellermann and Charles Dumouriez stopped the advance near the norther

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Painting of the battle of Valmy by Horace Vernet from 1826. The white uniformed infantry to the right are regulars while the blue coated ranks to the left are from the citizen volunteers of 1791

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The Duke of Chartres (dismounted) and his brother, the Duke of Montpensier (on horseback), in dragoon uniform at the battle of Valmy.

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Map of the battle

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Valmy obelisk with statue of Kellermann

Siege of Lille (1792)
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The Siege of Lille saw a Republican French garrison under Jean-Baptiste André Ruault de La Bonnerie hold Lille against an assault by a Habsburg Austrian army commanded by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen. Though the city was bombarded, the French successfully withstood the Austrian attack in the War of the First Coalition action. Because the Austrians w

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Siege of Lille by Louis Joseph Watteau

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Column of the Goddess

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Duke of Saxe-Teschen

Battle of Jemappes
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The Battle of Jemappes took place near the town of Jemappes in Hainaut, Belgium, near Mons during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The French, who outnumbered their opponents by about three-to-one, launched a series of enthusiastic, at length, the French seized a portion of the ridge and the Austrians were unab

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Battle of Jemappes

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The monument of the battle in Jemappes.

Battle of Neerwinden (1793)
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The Second Battle of Neerwinden saw a Republican French army led by Charles François Dumouriez attack a Coalition army commanded by Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The French position in the Austrian Netherlands swiftly collapsed, ending the threat to the Dutch Republic, the War of the First Coalition engagement was fought at Neerwinden, loc

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Battle of Neerwinden

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Prince of Coburg

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Joseph de Ferraris

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Duke of Chartres

Battle of Famars
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The Battle of Famars was fought on 23 May 1793 during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. An Allied Austrian, Hanoverian, and British army under Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld defeated the French Army of the North led by François Joseph Drouot de Lamarche, the action occurred near the village of Famars in northern France

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Battle of Famars

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The Battle of Famars

Siege of Bellegarde (1793)
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The capture of the fort gave Spain control of an important road through the Pyrenees. The siege took place during the War of the Pyrenees, part of the French Revolutionary Wars, Fort de Bellegarde is on a height overlooking the border town of Le Perthus, which lies on the modern A9 autoroute and Autovía A-7. King Louis XIV of France built Fort de B

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Bellegarde fortress chapel

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Antonio Ricardos

Battle of Saorgio (1793)
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The local Sardinian commander in the Maritime Alps was Charles-François Thaon, Count of Saint-André. Saorge is now located in France about 70 kilometres northeast of Nice, in April 1794 the French seized the positions from the Austro-Sardinians in the Second Battle of Saorgio. The winter of 1792 found two French armies facing the Kingdom of Sardini

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Fort de La Forca on the Massif de l’Authion

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Count of Saint-André

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Raphaël de Casabianca

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Louis Fréron

Siege of Valenciennes (1793)
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The Siege of Valenciennes took place between 13 June and 28 July 1793, during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. The French garrison under Jean Henri Becays Ferrand was blockaded by part of the army of Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, commanded by the Prince Frederick, Duke of York, Valenciennes fell on 28 July, resultin

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The Grand Attack on Valenciennes by the Combined Armies under the Command of His Royal Highness the Duke of York, 25 July 1793

Siege of Dunkirk (1793)
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Following a Coalition defeat at the Battle of Hondshoote they were forced to raise the siege and withdraw northeast. The plan to besiege Dunkirk was taken not by military commanders, right from the beginning of the campaign Dundas had considered the possession of Dunkirk as desirable, both as a bargaining counter in peace negotiations and as a pote

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Map of the Siege of Dunkirk and the Battle of Hondschoote

Siege of Le Quesnoy (1793)
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After two and a half week siege, the French capitulated after suffering heavy losses. The War of the First Coalition operation was fought at Le Quesnoy, after the successful Sieges of Condé and Valenciennes, the Coalition divided their forces. While an Austrian army laid siege to Le Quesnoy, a British-led army marched west to the coast to operate a

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The defenses of Le Quesnoy are preserved in a park.

Battle of Hondschoote (1793)
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The Battle of Hondschoote took place during the Flanders Campaign of the Campaign of 1793 in the French Revolutionary Wars. By August 1793, the Coalition Army under command of the Austrian Prince of Coburg had taken Condé, Valenciennes and its defences, manned by 8,000 men under the command of Joseph Souham, were thought to be in a poor state of re

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Battle of Hondschoote

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General Houchard.

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Positions on 7 September during the Siege of Dunkirk and the Battle of Hondschoote

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Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden

Battle of Avesnes-le-Sec
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The Austrian cavalrymen made an overwhelming charge against the French and severely defeated them. In August 1793 the French Army of the North under Jean Nicolas Houchard faced the Imperial army of The Prince of Coburg, Houchards attention was focused on drawing his forces to his left flank to relieve Dunkirk resulting in the Battle of Hondschoote.

Battle of Menin (1793)
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The great superiority in numbers being on the French side the battle ended in a victory for France, with the Dutch army suffering heavy losses. Among the casualties was Prince Frederick, who was wounded in the shoulder at Wervik, the combat occurred during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. Menen is a city in Belgium located o

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General Jean Nicolas Houchard, victor in the battle

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Map by Daniel de la Feuille of Flanders – the battlefield is in the middle of the triangle "Ipres"-Tournai-Courtrai (click for higher resolution and zoom)

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View of the Close of the Action Between the British and French Fleets, off Port L'Orient on the 23rd of June 1795; aquatint by Robert Dodd, from the original by Captain Alexander Becher, RN; published by the engraver 12 June 1812

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5 August 1796, approximately 10 hours. Battle of Castiglione. Under the command of Napoleon, Marmont brings artillery onto Mount Medolano while Augereau's division begins the attack in the central plain.

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The Austrians initially pushed out the French defenders, but a strong counter-attack forced them to retreat, leaving the French in possession of the village and the important bridgeheads crossing the Rhine River.

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On 18 September 1796, General Petrasch's troops stormed the French-held bridgehead at Kehl. Although they originally pushed the French out, a prompt counter-attack forced them to retreat, leaving the French still in possession.

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Map shows the geographic relationship between Kehl and Strasbourg. Petrasch controlled the territory surrounding Kehl, on the east side of the river. This prevented Moreau from using the bridge at Kehl to cross the Rhine to safety in France.